As the prime banking regulator, Bangladesh Bank should reconsider this directive. At the bare minimum, it can remove SME loans from it, just like consumer loans were omitted. Ideally, scrapping the regulation altogether and replacing it with a policy rate cut would be a better way to bring down lending rates.
While the duration of the conflict and the peak of oil prices remain unpredictable, there is a silver lining. Analysts note that the BDT is not as significantly overvalued today as it was in 2022. Consequently, any potential "crash" or magnitude of depreciation is expected to be much lower than the volatility witnessed two years ago.
Inflation is coming down but it will take while before this translates into economic growth revival
Identifying the real problems and who should solve them